FROM THE DAWGHOUSE…
CAN WE REALLY KNOW GOD?
The book of Romans is the New Testament’s longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.
At Forge today, Pastor Pete delved into Chapter 1 of Romans, among other scripture verses, where Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome is a thorough and clear presentation of the gospel, or “good news,” about salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul identifies himself as both a servant of Jesus and an apostle, representing Christ’s authority and message to others.
Paul interrupts his own greeting to jump into an explanation of the gospel. It is his Christ-given mission in life, to tell everyone he can that Jesus is the Son of God, as well as the direct descendant of King David. In short, He is the Messiah who was raised from the dead (Romans 1:1–7).
Paul reveals to the Roman Christians how urgently he wants to travel to Rome to see them. In fact, he prays continually that it will be God’s will for him to come. He wants to give them a spiritual gift and for there to be mutual encouragement in the faith. Also, since Paul’s mission in life is to preach the gospel to all people groups, he is eager to come and preach in the multicultural metropolis of Rome (Romans 1:8–15).
Paul reveals the key purpose of his letter by declaring that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He insists that it is God’s power for salvation for everyone who believes, including both Jews and Gentiles. The only way to be made righteous by God, to be welcomed into His family, starts, and ends with faith (Romans 1:16–17).
Paul then launches into an explanation of why God is right to condemn humanity in the first place. Why do we need salvation? What do we need to be saved from? Paul describes a downward progression for unrighteous humanity; this includes all of us by our very nature. It begins with refusing to see in creation what God has made knowable about Himself by what He has made. Sinful humans do not want to see, and do not want others to recognize, God’s eternal power or divine nature from what He has made (Romans 1:18–20).
Having rejected God as Creator, we also refuse to give Him thanks as our provider. We congratulate ourselves for our wisdom in seeing the world without God in it and, instead, become fools, unable to understand the basic truths of the universe because we have eliminated the possibility that God is the source of it all. Our hearts become darker and darker (Romans 1:21–22).
Next, we begin to worship what God has made instead of Him. We create lesser versions of His creation and worship them, further alienating and insulting Him. In response, God expresses His wrath on humanity in a surprising way: He is said to give us over to the unchecked expression of our sinful desires. Paul first mentions our full indulgence, at God’s “giving over,” of our sexual desires with and against each other, dishonoring the bodies He has made and given to us. Next, He gives us over to the indulgence of sexual desire in homosexual relationships, as women and men become consumed with passion for people of their own gender (Romans 1:23–27).
Finally, since we continue to refuse to acknowledge God, He gives us up to debased minds, resulting in our indulgence in every kind of sin imaginable. Paul concludes the chapter with a list of such sins. Few people are likely guilty of all these sins, but all of us are guilty of some of them. We are all slaves to our sin and in need of salvation from the wrath of God in judgment against us (Romans 1:28–32).
Whew.
Where do we go from here, right?
Pastor Pete pointed out that there is an interesting dilemma here for Christians. If Christianity is no more than a system that answers all of life’s questions, then to admit any of the sins that Paul lists is to be something less than a good Christian. But in our own attempts to be good Christians, we undermine our need for God. We want Christianity to work. We want it to exist in a closed system where every question has an answer, ever problem has a solution. We want to show the world a neat, clean, open-and-shut case for Christianity. But in the process, we unknowingly shut out God.
Claiming to be wise, we become fools; we exchange the truth of God for a lie and worship the created things – our systems, principles, and formulas – rather than the creator who is forever blessed.
That’s why Jesus says we should ask. Asking puts us back on track with God. It assumes a “need” relationship with Him – a hand-to-mouth spiritual existence. A vulnerable daily dependence. In a society that rushes to fill every felt need, that steals away the soul of a person and offers to sell it back at a price, we need to rekindle what it means to ASK GOD.
Get to Know God, today!
Joe Bouch, FORGE Winter Springs
